News:

"There is a terrible desperation to the increasingly pathetic rationalizations from the climate denial camp. This comes as no surprise if you take the long view; every single undone paradigm in history has died kicking and screaming, and our current petroleum paradigm 🐉🦕🦖 is no different. The trick here is trying to figure out how we all make it to the new ⚡ paradigm without dying ☠️ right along with the old one, kicking, screaming or otherwise." - William Rivers Pitt

Many people have the wrong idea about Lebanon. Yes, this country located along the Mediterranean Sea is part of the Middle East, but you won't find any camels or desert-dwelling nomadic tribes there. In fact, the country that 4.5 million Lebanese call home is the only Middle Eastern nation without a desert within its borders. Instead, there are mountains, fertile valleys that produce fruits and vegetables (much like California), and, when it gets cold enough, there is snow, especially at higher elevations.

A country like no other:

Summers are long, hot, and humid in Lebanon, and the winters are typically cold and wet. You could take a refreshing dip in the sea in the morning and hit the ski slopes in the afternoon.

Christians are welcome in Lebanon and amount to about 40 percent of the population.

Relics from the Roman Empire abound, including the tallest Roman columns found anywhere in the world.

Commissioned by the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism, We spent 5 summer months filming Lebanon from Above, including its rural, urban, cultural touristic and historical location, as well as the amazing number of festivals.

The idea was to show Lebanon's beauty, diversity and wealth from another angle (above), in order to encourage and promote international and domestic tourism.

My main personal goal is to remind us all that Lebanon is not all about problems, political turmoil, trash...etc but is first and foremost a country that has so much to offer on such a small portion of land, and is still, in spite of everything, truly beautiful.

Maybe by seeing this video, people who lost sight of what Lebanon truly is, will have newfound optimism and strength to participate in steering the country in the right direction, to understand that it is their country to love and protect.

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We filmed from mid June to early November and covered Mount Lebanon, Beirut, Southern Lebanon, the Bekaa, Baalbek and North Lebanon.

We received amazing support from the Ministry of Tourism, as well as the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Defense, the Lebanese Air Force and the Lebanese Army Intelligence.

From the beginning, a social media campaign was created on Instagram, under @riseabovelebanon, which yielded a lot of interest and followers, reaching an organic 12,000 followers so far.

The book, also titled "Rise Above Lebanon", was released on 2 December 2015. it is a hardcover photography book of the highest standard, with 200 pages of images of Lebanon from Above and is available in all major bookshops in Lebanon.

The video, of a duration of 5 minutes was released by Live Love Lebanon and the Ministry of Tourism on 4 February 2016 and immediately went viral, with over about 2 million views as well as over 40,000 shares, 12,000 likes and hundreds of comments (99% of which are positive).

Qadisha, one of the deepest and most beautiful valleys in Lebanon, is indeed a world a part. At the bottom of this wild steep-sided gorge runs the Qadisha River whose source is in the Qadisha Grotto at the foot of the Cedars. And above the famous Cedar grove stands Qornet el Sawda, Lebanon's highest peak. This is truly Heaven on Earth.